My Journey

Medical missionary Dr Robert Gurney now believes in biblical creation and thinks that it is very important

Published: 28 February 2013 (GMT+10)

CMI asked Dr Robert J.M. Gurney, medical doctor and missionary, and author of
Six-Day Creation: Does it matter what you believe?, to share how he eventually came to
accept a straightforward view of the time-frame of creation from the Bible and why he thinks that this is very important for Christians today.

Postscript: Dr Gurney finalized this article while suffering significant physical deterioration with pancreatic cancer. He died at home with his family with him on Saturday, June 1, 2013. “ … away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

From believing in ‘millions of years’ to trusting Genesis as written

Photos courtesy of Dr GurneyDr Robert Gurney

I was born in Burma, where my parents were missionaries. In fact my mother was a fourth-generation missionary, and had been born in China. When I was nearly two years old,
the Japanese invaded Burma, and we had to escape to India. My father joined the American army as a medical officer (although he was British!), and went back into Burma, where he
remained until the end of the war.

I received Christ as my Saviour and Lord in 1950, at the age of ten. Like my parents, I believed that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of God. This belief was
confirmed and strengthened as I grew older. I was still at school when I began to be interested in the creation/evolution debate. I used to argue with the biology master about
it, but he did not appreciate it! I joined the Evolution Protest Movement and corresponded with its general secretary A.G.Tilney. I remember telling him that the name of the
society sounded rather negative, and something more positive might be an improvement. Although I rejected the theory of evolution, I tended to accept the ‘millions of
years’.

Although I rejected the theory of evolution, I tended to accept the ‘millions of years’.

Medical studies

I studied medicine at Bristol University, and while I was there I read The Genesis Flood in 1962. This book maintains
A) that the Bible says the earth is only several thousand years old, and B) that the scientific evidence supports this. I found it fascinating, but in the years ahead I continued
to be uncertain about this, thinking that the evidence for ‘millions of years’ was very strong. I never doubted the truth of Christianity—the wonders of creation
and the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ were just two of the reasons for my lack of doubt.

Bible College

In 1965, I went to a Bible College. The college tried to reconcile the Bible with secular science, recommending The Christian View of Science and Scripture, by Bernard
Ramm, who advocated ‘progressive creation’. Ramm rejected microbes-to-man evolution, but accepted the millions of years—which was in line with what I thought at
the time. After Bible College, I attended Liverpool University, where I obtained the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

A few months later, in 1966, I married Priscilla. Like me, she had been born in Burma and her parents had been missionaries (her father a surgeon), but in a different part of
the country. In fact we had met on one occasion shortly before the Japanese invaded. I had believed ever since my conversion that God was calling me to be a missionary, and
Priscilla also had believed the same for years.

We were always conscious of God’s loving care, protection and provision, and we had many remarkable experiences.

Soon after our wedding, we moved to Israel, where I worked in the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society Hospital in Nazareth. We experienced amazing things in Israel. I left just
before the outbreak of the six-day war in 1967—Priscilla had left a little earlier for the birth of our first child.

Africa

After that, we served as missionaries in East Africa for about 16 years. I was the doctor in charge of various rural hospitals, first in Tanzania and then in Kenya. We spent our
first six months in Tanzania at Mvumi Hospital, where Paul White, the author of the "Jungle Doctor" books, had worked. We lived in his former house. About seven years were spent
in Moyale, an isolated town in a remote Muslim area in the far north of Kenya. It was an arid area, but the Boran people, like many other peoples all over the world, have their
own version of the Flood story. A donkey played a starring role in this version! Non-biblical accounts of the Flood have become corrupted over time!

We were always conscious of God’s loving care, protection and provision, and we had many remarkable experiences. In one rather frightening one we found ourselves in the
middle of a gunfight in Moyale. During the night ‘shifta’ (bandits) started firing over the roof of our bungalow towards the police post. And the police returned fire
with machine-guns and grenades! This happened twice, and on several other occasions we heard the same sort of thing going on in Ethiopian Moyale, just over the border. We also
had pleasant experiences, such as snorkelling when on holiday at the coast (and when we lived near the coast after our time at Moyale). We loved seeing the incredible beauty of
coral reefs and their fish.

The Gurney family ‘on Safari’ c.1976, at Torbi, Kenya.

Dr Gurney operating in Tanzania, c. 1970

Evangelism

The creation/evolution debate went on the back burner at that time. When witnessing to Muslims, I referred to the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament more often than to
the creation account. I was working on a book about Daniel’s prophecies at the time. It was published in 1980 with the title God in
Control1, and I had articles on the subject published in various theological journals. But I remember reading at that
time about a missionary who took the gospel to a group of animists who had no knowledge of Christianity. When he presented the gospel to these people, he began right at the
beginning, with Genesis, because that is foundational to the gospel. It made real sense to these people, and many of them became Christians. The missionary clearly believed that
the early chapters of Genesis are real history. If he had not believed that, his task would have been much harder, and I believe that he would have been less effective in his
witness.

Dr Gurney in 1982, when he and Priscilla were missionaries.

General practice in England

When we returned to England in 1983, I went into general practice. During that time I read a number of books which seemed to prove that the scientific evidence for
‘millions of years’ is overwhelming, and that the Bible has to be interpreted in the light of this ‘fact’. I found these books very convincing, in spite
of my having read The Genesis Flood. However, I continued to read biblical creationist literature, although I thought it must be mistaken about the age issue. However,
I became convinced that the Bible clearly teaches that the earth and universe are only a few thousand years old, and for a time I tried to reconcile this with the scientific
evidence for a billions-of-years-old universe. I had already tried Progressive Creation and the
Literary Framework hypothesis, so I toyed with a theory of my own invention! The final turning point came when I
realized that science does not by any means prove the billions of years—in fact it supports the biblical account. It was Jonathan Sarfati’s book, Refuting
Compromise, which provided the final push.

A turn around

That was in 2004, after I had retired from general practice. I have always believed that the Bible is God’s word, but the realization that the early chapters of Genesis
are real history has made me understand this in a new and wonderful way. My faith in the absolute trustworthiness of the Bible has been strengthened.

My wife and three children (and their spouses) are now firm believers in biblical creation. My two daughters are married to a general practitioner (a doctor) and an
orthopaedic surgeon respectively, and my son is a wildlife consultant and ex-safari guide in Zambia and Kenya. We have eight grandchildren, including two who were
adopted—a boy from Sri Lanka, and a girl from Vietnam. Our eldest daughter, incidentally, was a sixth-generation missionary, serving in Sri Lanka.

Resistance

The final turning point came when I realized that science does not by any means prove the billions of years—in fact it supports the biblical account. It was Jonathan
Sarfati’s book, Refuting Compromise, which provided the final push.

I have discussed and debated the subject with church leaders and academics, amongst others, and have found, like others before me, that resistance to the truth of biblical
creation is very strong. Out of such a debate came my book Six-Day Creation: does it matter what you believe?2 It
seems to me that this resistance is caused partly by spiritual blindness. I have written something about this in the article “Evangelicals and biblical
creation”.3 But I can understand their resistance, because I was resistant myself. I believe it needs to be overcome
by prayer, as well as by courteous debate, reasoning and education.

What are some of the objections I have had to deal with? They boil down to the following: A) Science has proved evolution and/or millions of years, B) The Bible (according to
many evangelicals) is compatible with evolution and/or millions of years, and C) There are real difficulties with taking the early chapters of Genesis literally. One objection,
for example, was that because the word “day” does not always mean a literal day in the Bible, the days of creation do not have to be literal days. Another objection
was that the temptation of Eve by the serpent cannot be taken literally. Another objection was that although the grammar of the creation account is that of narrative prose, the
account could be allegory or parable. Many of these objections can be answered easily,4 but that does not mean that we
know the full answer to every question. Some of these answers will be discovered in due course with further research, but enough is known already to assure us that biblical
creation is true. We can be sure that there are answers to every question—even if we will not know some of them until we reach heaven.

A side issue?

Another objection was that this debate is a side issue. I was told that it is a distraction from the really important issues, and it prevents many non-believers from taking
Christianity seriously. But if evolution and/or millions of years are false—and a satanic deception—and a large part of the Christian church is compromising with it,
it is most definitely not a side issue.

One of the other reasons (there are several) why it is not a side issue, is that it is foundational to secular humanism (atheism), which is ascendant in much of Western
civilization. The theory of evolution gives people an excuse to say that there is no God, and this means that they believe they are not accountable to God. This in turn means that
they do “what is right in their own eyes” (c.f. Judges 21:25), leading to a breakdown of sexual
morality, family life, law and order, etc.

The church’s compromise with this theory puts human opinion in authority over God’s word. Instead of interpreting the scientific evidence in the light of what
the infallible, unchanging God has told us, it interprets the Bible in the light of fallible, changing human opinion. This policy has greatly weakened the church and, together
with liberalism,5 I believe, has played a large part in the decline of the church in the West.

[The] Christian church would be much stronger if we were united in believing God’s word concerning this matter, rather than some believing His word, but others
believing Satan’s lie.

Why take Genesis as history?

What are the major reasons why we Christians need to accept the Bible’s history in Genesis, including a (relatively) young earth? First, Jesus Christ taught that the
Old Testament is God’s word and is supremely authoritative—and He implied that this would be true of the New Testament
also.6 (He said that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples all things, and would bring to their remembrance all things
that he had said to them—John 14:26). There are many reasons—biblical, scientific and
historical—why the early chapters of Genesis are clearly meant to be understood as straightforward history.7 God will
not bless us if we do not receive and believe His word (e.g. John 14:23). Satan’s first temptation in
the Garden of Eden was to disbelieve God’s word, and the first sin was to do just that. Second, the Christian church would be much stronger if we were united in believing
God’s word concerning this matter, rather than some believing His word, but others believing Satan’s lie. Third, the Bible’s history in Genesis is foundational
to the gospel and major doctrines in the Bible.8

Forward!

What do I think is the way forward for the biblical creation movement? We have to remember that this is spiritual warfare. Satan is determined to suppress the truth and will
not give up. Opposition to the truth will not go away. We need to keep on praying and witnessing to the truth, but also to develop effective research and education programs. We
need to support organisations such as CMI, and others that promote biblical creation through research and education. We should also work to share the materials published to
spread the message. Our experience has been that if we do this we will see fellow Christians greatly strengthened and the unsaved come to Christ. Young people, in particular,
need to ‘take up the baton’ and ‘put their shoulders to the wheel’.

Josef Ton, a Romanian Baptist pastor imprisoned for his faith under the communist regime said: “I came to the conclusion that there are
two factors which destroyed Christianity in Western Europe. One was the theory of evolution, the other, liberal theology … . Liberal theology is just evolution applied to
the Bible and our faith.”; http://creation.com/josef-ton-evolution-and-liberal-theology.
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Readers’ comments

Martyn M.,Australia, 1 March 2013

"Great article. Part of my enjoyment of reading this is the way Dr Robert Gurney's accent comes through (south African style (I imagine he has one)).

I too come across Christians who contend that age/evolution is a side issue and I love his response "But if evolution and/or millions of years are false—and a satanic deception—and a large part of the Christian church is compromising with it, it is most definitely not a side issue." However I think many Christians who believe in billions of years do so not because they want to compromise but because they believe science has proven it to be so.

Don Batten responds

Actually, Dr Gurney is British and I would be surprised if he had any South African accent.

Yes, Christians compromise because they mistakenly think that 'science' demands it (of course few will recognize or acknowledge that they are compromising Scripture, rather they will use 'weasel words' to justify their 'reinterpretation'). That virtually every Bible scholar understood Genesis in a straightforward way before the invention of 'deep time' c. 1800 shows that the reinterpretations are very strained and indeed a compromise.

Joseph Allen K.,United States, 1 March 2013

Dr. Robert Gurney, thanks for your witness. You are a wonderful, mature Christian who has a full and deep appreciation for the Bible. I wish there were billions of people like you in our world.

However, I still think our #1 priority is to drive a stake thru the heart of Darwinian Evolution. Once this is done, and ONLY once this is done, will a large number of Darwinistic Christians be willing to open their minds to the profound truth and beauty in the Bible.

To discuss a young earth or a young human race with a Darwinistic Christian, is like trying to discuss Einstein's Theory of Relativity with kids in kindergarten.

Don Batten responds

'Horses for courses', as the saying goes. There are many routes to coming to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, but the 'deep time' paradigm undermines the Gospel at its very roots, as Dr Gurney points out, so it is not something a Bible-believing Christian (should there be any other type?!) can go along with, even 'for the sake of the argument'. See Reference 8 that Dr Gurney refers to.

There are plenty of people who are 'anti-evolution', but who have accepted the story that the world is old, old, old and so they think that they cannot trust the Bible's account of history. They also have their concept of 'God' creating a world of death and suffering over billions of years. In this context the Gospel makes little sense. Please read Reference 8.

Kevin P.,United States, 1 March 2013

I have a BA in math. I have been a Christian for almost forty years and have believed in a young earth for most of that time (and still do), mostly because I understand the Bible to say that it is.

Yet, I am sure it is a common experience that, "the older I get the less I'm willing to admit that I know". I feel so inadequate: DNA, physics, biology, chemisty, etc.

An Atheist must believe in evolution. If long ages are proved wrong how can a person remain an Atheist? Their passions are on fire to prove long ages. On the other hand, for Christians, if God created everything in billions of milliseconds that is fine with us. If He created everything in billions of years then, praise the Lord, that is fine with us too.

So, implicity, Christians can be (not necessarily are) more honest scientists than Atheists because our passions do not need to be so envolved.

Don Batten responds

It is true that the materialist needs a very ancient earth. However, much is at stake with the 'deep time' paradigm for the Bible-believing Christian, who should not be ambivalent about it at all, as Dr Gurney discovered; see "Did God create over billions of years?" (reference 8 and also in the Related reading).

Debbie D.,United States, 28 February 2013

But if evolution and/or millions of years are false—and a satanic deception—and a large part of the Christian church is compromising with it, it is most definitely not a side issue.

Thank you, thank you CMI and Dr. Gurney for this wonderful testimony. When talking with my Christian friends and family about this issue it's usually the same response...it's not an important issue...and I've always felt that it was. Not wanting to a legalist (as I tend to be) I wouldn't push the issue. Now you've armed me with more truth and assurance.

Lynn M.,United Kingdom, 28 February 2013

Thank you, Dr Gurney, for such a well-written testimony. I really enjoyed your honest telling of your walk - refreshing and encouraging. Praise God for your gift of explanation to His glory.

Thank you CMI for publishing Dr Gurney and for all you do so thoroughly.

Every blessing,

Jim H.,United States, 28 February 2013

Thanks be to God for this powerful and honest testimony to His grace in making these things so clear to Dr. Gurney. May we, as readers, continue to share the message of biblical creation and to help many people develop and live consistently with a biblical worldview.

John L.,Australia, 28 February 2013

A great testimony! To attest to the historicity of Genesis chapters 1 to 11 is so important. Dr Gurney does that so well.